Evaluating the Effectiveness of Practice-Based Approaches to Developing Preservice Teachers’ Skill With Acknowledging Competence

• In Event: Causal Evidence to Support the Development of an Equitable and Effective Teacher Workforce

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigates the impact of a practice-based intervention on novice teachers’ skill with the practice of acknowledging competence. “Acknowledging competence” is defined here as working actively to label student competence and to position individual students as competent with attention to race, ethnicity, gender, and other aspects of personal identity. Teachers’ use of this practice is correlated with improved student learning and higher rates of student self-efficacy (e.g., Battey, 2013; Boaler & Staples, 2008). One study found that increased use of acknowledging competence strategies characterized classrooms with higher rates of success for African American students (Wilson, et al., 2019). Given the promise of acknowledging competence for improving student outcomes, particularly for students of color and others who have historically not been well-served by school, it is important for teacher education to prepare novices to use this practice skillfully. Only a few studies, however, have investigated different approaches to equipping teacher candidates with skills related to any specific teaching practice.

Perspective

We drew on the literature on both practice-based teacher education (e.g., Ball & Forzani, 2009; Grossman et. al, 2018; Grossman & McDonald, 2008) and acknowledging competence (e.g., Gresalfi et al., 2009) to design our treatment, a decomposition-based analysis of practice with rehearsals. We also developed a contrasting control intervention involving more traditional, read-and-discuss teacher education pedagogies.

Methods

We used a randomized controlled trial to compare the two approaches. Teacher candidates (n=59) enrolled in a single preparation program were randomly assigned to receive a 2.5 hour session as part of their regular preparation program, with one group (n=30) assigned to treatment and the other (n=29) to control. To allow for content-based specific instruction, our design blocked on subject matter.

Data sources

Through surveys, we collected information about candidates' backgrounds, pre-treatment factors that may impact candidates' use of acknowledging competence (e.g., self-reported self-efficacy, beliefs about student performance, academic performance), and candidates' post-treatment performance on a written task about the focal practice. We also analyzed video recordings of each candidate engaged in classroom instruction in a K-12 setting.


Results

Candidates in the treatment group had significantly higher scores on a written posttest measuring ability to identify instances of acknowledging competence (mean 0.87, 95% CI 0.83-0.91) than did candidates in the control group (mean 0.77, 95% CI 0.72-0.81). Additional analyses are ongoing and will be complete by March 2024. The presentation will include a discussion of implications of the study for developing a workforce of teachers committed to dismantling racial injustice and constructing educational possibilities for all children.

Scholarly significance

Lack of causal research in teacher education has left the field unable to answer basic questions about the best way to prepare teachers, with potentially serious implications for student’s learning. This study contributes to our collective understanding of how to design impactful learning experiences for candidates, and in particular of how to support candidates to acknowledge student competence in ways that are likely to support student learning.

Authors

• Francesca Forzani, University of Michigan

• Madelyn Gardner, Learning Policy Institute

• Heather C. Hill, Harvard University

• Brienna Kightlinger, Harvard University